New System Tips...

J

JHWright

Member
My Satellite Setup
Sky+
Sky Multiroom
Astra 19.2 on its way (hopefully!)
My Location
UK
I'm in the process of buying/setting up a new system, and as I'm a bit of a novice, would appreciate some answers to the below...

1) What's the difference between Astra 1H/1KR/1L/1M? Are they different transponders? If so, how does my receiver known which one to 'receive' from? Some of the channels I want ore on 1KR, and others are on 1M. Does my receiver do this automatically based on which channel I select to watch?

2) What's the difference between Zone 1 and Zone 2 dishes? What's best for 19.2 in the south of the UK? Is 60cm enough, or should I go with 80cm?

3) Are receivers available for recording Astra channels the same way I currently do on my Sky+ box? So I can set to record in advance using an EPG display? I want one with a moderate internal memory, and it doesn't need (m)any card ports as I'm only interested in FTA channels.

4) Is a dish reasonable easy to install? Would I be better off getting an installer to at least fix the dish to the wall, and I can then sort the cables out myself?

5) What cable is best for running between the dish and receiver?

Any other tips/suggestions/advice?!?!

Thanks in advance
 
JHWright said:
I'm in the process of buying/setting up a new system, and as I'm a bit of a novice, would appreciate some answers to the below...

1) What's the difference between Astra 1H/1KR/1L/1M? Are they different transponders? If so, how does my receiver known which one to 'receive' from? Some of the channels I want ore on 1KR, and others are on 1M. Does my receiver do this automatically based on which channel I select to watch?
Click to expand...

They are different Satellites - but all effectively at the same position, so your Receiver sees them as one, subject to correct Dish alignment.

A scan of the "Satellite" will bring you Channels from all the component Satellites.
 
JHWright said:
2) What's the difference between Zone 1 and Zone 2 dishes? What's best for 19.2 in the south of the UK? Is 60cm enough, or should I go with 80cm?
Click to expand...

Those are terms specifically used with Sky Dishes.

Zone 1 is the tiddler and Zone 2 is a bit bigger: Purely to do with fitting the Dish with the least visual impact yet sufficient performance for the job - which depends upon location as the "Footprint" of the Satellites is not uniform.
 
JHWright said:
4) Is a dish reasonable easy to install? Would I be better off getting an installer to at least fix the dish to the wall, and I can then sort the cables out myself?
Click to expand...

A doddle. Lots of advice here for first timers.

We've all been first timers.

3. & 5. I'll leave for others. My Claret is at the correct temperature for quaffing.
 
Thanks for this.

Couple of other questions...

Does using a PVR ready receiver, with a memory stick/HDD work out much cheaper than an intergrated PVR receiver??

If I'm going to the trouble/expense of getting this system, would it be worthwhile to pay the extra pennies and get a monoblock LNB so I can pick up Hotbird 13 also? Apart from the more expensive dish, what else would I need to get to make this work? (A receiver with at least 2 inputs?? - not really sure how the monoblock works, other than being a two heads in one unit!)

Thanks again!
 
I know little about PVRs (hence skipping the question last time ........... :)), so let's hope someone else can advise.

As regards getting Hotbird as well (wise idea), a 6 degree Monoblock is two separate LNBs in one housing that also incorporates a DiSEqC (qv Wikipaedia etc.) switch.

It connects to the Receiver by a single length of Satellite Grade Cable and all you do is set up the corresponding DiSEqC functions in your Receiver; Assign one "Port" to Hotbird and another to "Astra 1.

Thereafter, you need do nothing: If you select a Channel from Hotbird, the Receiver will switch to the correct Port of the LNB. If you select one from Astra 1 it will switch to the correct Port of the LNB.

Simples.
 
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